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Stained Glass Shop Windows and Other Details

Having seen the Stained Glass Shop Windows that Mum has been collecting on Flickr. I took some photos of my own during the first half of my trip. On the last day coming through Armidale, Guyra, Glen Innes, Tenterfield, Stanthorpe I saw plenty of good stained glass shop windows and the windows in Glen Innes were a stand out in the vast number of them still in place but I just wasn’t in the mood for walking up and down the main streets taking photos of the stained glass windows or the pressed metal ceilings or the shop fronts. Next time! I’ve included Google Street View links where I can so click on those links and have a virtual stroll.

These first two windows are on shops that are not very far apart on the main street (Marshall Street) in Goondiwindi, both a fairly standard swag pattern. The first shop also features a pretty standard pressed metal ceiling on the awning. This pattern is sold these days as Dancetti, very Art Deco in styling, this design is seen on shop awning ceilings all throughout Goondiwindi, Moree, Narrabri, Gunnedah. I’m fairly certain I saw it in Tamworth as well.  The design very effective in the typical proportions of a shop awning (long rectangle) and not very detailed so I imagine it would have been one of the cheapest ceilings you could buy.

Goondiwindi Stained Glass Shop WindowGoondiwindi Stained Glass Shop Window

I don’t mind the swag styles above but when it comes to style I’m much more a fan of the geometrics of Art Deco than than the flowy, flowery Art Nouveau. The simple stylised arrow designs in these windows below are what I like, strictly speaking they are on a pub (The Victoria Hotel) so they aren’t really shop windows but still.

Goondiwindi Stained Glass feature

Now we are talking! Oh hello geometric! These windows belong to the Waynes World Discount Variety store in Moree (71 Heber St, Moree). The second photo is the front of the shop and there would have been originally a sign in the area which is now boarded off below the stained glass. I really like how the pressed metal ceiling has is geometrical like the stained glass. The design of the pressed metal is called Linfield or Labyrinth depending in you you buy it from these days.

Moree Stained Glass Shop WindowMoree Stained Glass Shop Window

 

The final window of the this post comes from Mum’s new home town of Narrabri. These windows are on the building that now hosts Max’s Spares (85 Maitland Street) are so over the top and magnificent and just so right. I would have loved to have seen these windows back in the day and to know what was in the oval space. It may have always been plain glass but I imagine it would have had some form of advertising on it. I think that Max’s Spares should put signs in them with words like radiators, fan belts, gaskets and the like.

Narrabri Stained Glass Shop Window

Finally sneaking into this post is this a photo of a vent in the bricks at the Narrabri Railway Station. This part of the station was built in 1098 (click to read the NSW Heritage database for the station) and I would be interested to know if other NSW railway stations built in that period had the same vents. Just look at those circles and waves.

Vent detail at the Narrabri Train Station

 

So there we have it. A sampling of stained glass shop windows, a peak into pressed metal ceilings and lovely geometric brick vent to finish off with.

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Country Bakery Slices

After leaving Millmerran it was onto Goondiwindi where I had my first country bakery slice of the trip. The best thing about country bakery slices? The price. $2.50 in Goondiwindi, $2.20 in Narrabri, $2.30 in Gunnedah, $2.70 in Glen Innes. You’re hard pressed getting change from $5 if you want slice in Brisbane regardless if it is from an old school bakery or a cafe. The next best thing about country bakery slices? The variety! and the interpations of classic slices that leave your head spinning in a good way from the sugar overload. Oh I spent some time pondering the choices!

My go to slice is caramel slice. Some people judge a bakery by the quality of the vanilla slice. I judge it by the caramel slice. I’ve had a lot of caramel slice over the years and the two key criteria for a caramel slice is a base with some crunch and flavour in it (desiccated coconut is good here) and the caramel needs to be just the right colour and taste. Not cooked enough and it tastes like sugar and nothing else on the other end of the caramel scale if the caramel is burnt then it just tastes darn awful. In saying all that I don’t recall ever making caramel slice, probably because I know very well that if I was to make caramel slice, it wouldn’t last very long in the container as it would be down my gob pretty quickly.

In Goodniwindi I was tempted by the caramel slice, I was also tempted by the apple slice but then I saw the holy grail. Peppermint slice! Oh sweet peppermint essence. I don’t see many peppermint slices round the bakery traps any  more and I would much rather see peppermint slices than cherry ripe slices.

This was the peppermint slice in Gundy. Just look at it! It’s on a mud cake base!!! The peppermint filling is tinted green!! All up a pretty good slice as I felt sick and overloaded on peppermint at the end of the slice.

Goondiwindi Slice

The next two slices came from Watson’s Kitchen in Narrabri. I thought this slice was a lemon meringue slice (how good would that be?), it was actually an egg custard slice with a cream icing. I wasn’t sold on this slice but for $2.20 I wasn’t complaining.

Narrabri Slice

The next slice to come from Watson’s was the beauty below. Oh hello caramel slice! On the caramel slice score ladder this was given an 8.6/10. It had a good thick layer of chocolate. The caramel was just right in flavour but the caramel should have been thicker. The base was a pretty good base but could have done with more coconut in it. On the score ladder if the caramel was 5mm thicker it would have jumped to a 9.5/

Narrabri Slice

 

The next slice was in Gunnedah. I didn’t take a photo. The caramel slice  in Gunnedah didn’t deserve a photo.  The caramel was very burnt, so much so that I thought it might have meant to be a burnt treacle caramel slice. It received a 2/10. It was only redeemed by the nice base it had – nice and crunchy. I was tempted to get another slice from a different bakery on main street in Gunnedah but decided not to increase the sugar levels too much.

The last slice of the trip was in Glen Innes at Smeatons Bakery.  I didn’t like the look of the caramel slice and was in a bit of a dilemma over getting peppermint slice again or getting their Mars bar slice.  As you can see from below I got the peppermint slice and it was pure traditional peppermint slice – yum, yum, yum. I would have liked the base a little thinner and a bit more peppermint filling but it was still yum, yum, yum. Now, let me tell you about their Mars bar slice. I kid you not the slice measured at least 8cm tall! It was a Mars bar slice on steroids, it wasn’t the usual Mars bar slice, it had a  chocolate cake base!!! Yes, it was a chocolate mud cake base, topped with Mars bar rice bubble goodness and topped with a layer of chocolate. Next time I’m going through Glen Innes I’ll be trying the Mars bar slice.

Glen Innes Slice

Five days, five slices, four photos, a whole lot of sugar.